Preservation foundation seeks additional funds to help restore depot

Published: Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 02:39 PM.

An effort to return the old New Bern Union Railroad Depot to the splendor of the turn of the century is gaining momentum.

Joe Mansfield, president of the New Bern Preservation Foundation, said since the foundation kicked off it’s Depot 100 Campaign in October to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the depot, organizations and clubs have begin jumping onboard.

“Everyone has been very enthusiastic,” Mansfield said.

The Depot 100 Campaign has an objective of 100 people or organizations donating $100 for five years.

Mansfield recently presented a commemorative print of the depot to Paula Lindsay, president of the New Bern Woman’s Club, to recognize the club as the first to join the Depot 100 Campaign.

New Bern Women’s Club donated $500 to the Depot 100 Campaign, the first organization to pledge the full amount, Mansfield said.

“I think (people) will be even more enthusiastic when construction starts on the roof,” Mansfield said.

An effort to return the old New Bern Union Railroad Depot to the splendor of the turn of the century is gaining momentum.

Joe Mansfield, president of the New Bern Preservation Foundation, said since the foundation kicked off it’s Depot 100 Campaign in October to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the depot, organizations and clubs have begin jumping onboard.

“Everyone has been very enthusiastic,” Mansfield said.

The Depot 100 Campaign has an objective of 100 people or organizations donating $100 for five years.

Mansfield recently presented a commemorative print of the depot to Paula Lindsay, president of the New Bern Woman’s Club, to recognize the club as the first to join the Depot 100 Campaign.

New Bern Women’s Club donated $500 to the Depot 100 Campaign, the first organization to pledge the full amount, Mansfield said.

“I think (people) will be even more enthusiastic when construction starts on the roof,” Mansfield said.

The Coastal Railroad Club plans to present a check to the Depot 100 Campaign during its open house Dec. 15, Mansfield said.

“They are very enthusiastic about this as you may expect,” he said.

Pat Schaible, chairwoman of Depot 100, said since the campaign began, 31 people or organizations have committed to the donations, but the New Bern Women’s Club was the first. Depot 100 was the brainchild of Carolyn Peterson, executive coordinator of New Bern Preservation Foundation, Schaible said.

State and federal funds will be used to pay for the $500,000 replacement of the roof. Construction should begin after the first of the year and should take three or four months to complete, Mansfield said.

Replacing the roof has to be the first objective for the rehabilitation because it is now unsafe to get in the depot to work on the interior, Mansfield said.

The old depot, where New Bern passenger caught trains from 1910 to the 1950s, has been abandoned since 1987. It was mostly used as a freight depot in its later days, Mansfield said.

It will take roughly $2.1 million to completely rehabilitate the depot, Mansfield said.

“The aim is to bring it back to its original construction and show what a 1910 railroad depot looked like,” he said.

There have also been discussions of putting shops and offices in the 8,000-square-foot depot once it is complete.

Restoration of the New Bern Union Depot has been in the works for more than 25 years, Mansfield said.

“In the past, every time the Preservation Foundation got an agreement among all the local parties someone on the North Carolina Railroad side would find some problem,” he said. “So it never could move forward.”

But in 2009, the Preservation Foundation members sat down with NCRR representatives and came to an agreement, Mansfield said.

“They agreed to try to work with us again as part of their overall plan to maximize a return on their assets,” he said. “After the talks (the plan) progressed and the city got involved.”

The NCRR hired an architect and engineer to determine what needed to be done to repair the roof of the depot. The New Bern Preservation Foundation paid for private insurance on the building, and the roof construction is being financed with $400,000 from the N.C. Department of Transportation and $100,000 from federal stimulus funds, Mansfield said.

The city is providing oversight of the project, he said.

Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at eddie.fitzgerald@newbernsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.